


so it's gonna be forever (or it's gonna go down in flames)

by LizMikaelson, saltziepark



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, and maybe a bed in the woods because why not, but there may be more in the future, does i love you count if its during sex, hope's definitely into it, josie's embracing her dark side, magic and fire and smut, so far not a lot of plot, we really have no excuse for this, we think it does, we're pretending they're all over eighteen because consent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:27:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22870246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizMikaelson/pseuds/LizMikaelson, https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltziepark/pseuds/saltziepark
Summary: it starts with magic, but neither of them knows how it's going to endorthe one where they fuck all over the school
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 68
Kudos: 521





	1. magic madness heaven sin

They've been fighting and fighting and fighting for hours, just lazily tossing spells across the room. After a while, they ventured outside and now they’re standing across from each other in the courtyard, waving hands and muttering whispers in the twilight.

They could both end this. Josie could take magic from Hope, rob her of her power, and Hope could levitate her into the air, take her away from the sources of magic she has been using.

But the truth is this: They might both be enjoying this, just a little. Probably a bit too much. 

It doesn’t even matter anymore why this fight began, which ridiculous demand Josie made, darkness flickering in her eyes, why Hope objected, loudly and quickly. All that matters is that it got them here, duelling in the middle of the school grounds, again. 

(It’s not the first time this has happened.) 

She’s pretty sure that Josie has moved on from siphoning the school to siphoning from the ground. The magic that flows through the earth, deeper than any spell. She should probably mention that to somebody. It could come back to bite them in the ass one day. 

But Hope knows darkness, knows it intimately and far too well, and understands it better than she’d ever admit. And maybe that’s the reason she hasn’t told anybody that Josie is becoming more powerful with each passing day. 

Or perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, the reason is something else entirely. 

At the other end of the courtyard, Josie lazily waves her hand, a tsunami of water cascading towards Hope, end over end. She blocks it with one hand, her focus still on Josie. 

There is something intoxicating about this version of her. Something wild and free and almost feral about a Josie that could tap into the deepest reaches of magic around them. Something almost animalistic about the way that she was smiling, her power manifesting in a tornado that Hope barely had time to deflect. 

_ Focus, Mikaelson.  _ It was just Josie, after all. 

Josie who she had grown up with. Josie who she had crushed on for a miserable week when they were younger. Josie who had been wrecked ever so spectacularly by Penelope. Josie who had been buried alive, who she had found. Josie who had brought back all of their memories of her. 

Josie who is breathtaking, beautifully flawed and strong and graceful. 

“You’re not even trying,” Josie teases, but there is a sheen of sweat on her collarbone that Hope wants to lick off. 

Oh, that is new. Not all that new, if she’s being honest. But this particular brand of honesty will only ever get her into trouble. 

Shaking her head because she really needed to fucking focus or get hit in the face with a spell from Josie when she least expected it, Hope brought her hands together, her fingers and hands moving effortlessly through the air to conjure the snow, the torrent of flakes, she pushed towards Josie. 

That would teach her to sweat so beautifully in front of Hope. Maybe that would cool Josie down and quiet Hope’s racing heart. 

Because Josie was beautiful, objectively so.

If someone were into that kind of thing. And Hope was really sure that she had been, once, and then wasn’t, and now? Now maybe she was. 

Because the way that Josie’s face was equal parts determined and amused right now? The way her chest was heaving with exertion but a smile danced her lips? 

Yeah, that smile was something that Hope would give every star in the sky to see again and again. 

“Do you want me to try?” she asks, tilts her head, takes in the sight of Josie. 

“Give me your best shot, Mikaelson,” Josie teases, and for a moment, the air around them feels a little lighter. 

Impulse control has never been Hope’s strong suit. 

And maybe that’s why she finds herself on the opposite end of the courtyard, pinning Josie to the nearest wall. 

And this was definitely a stupid idea, because they’re far, far, far too close now, no distance between them, and Josie’s eyes flash dark. 

“Is this how you want to play it, Hope?” Her name has never sounded better than dripping from Josie’s lips, sweet as honey and laced with sin. 

She feels the drain of the magic being pulled from her body, Josie taking, and seconds later she’s on the ground, the siphon hovering above her. 

She acts instinctively, all rational thought flying from her mind as she leans up, grabbing Josie by the neck with both hands to pull her towards her, their lips meeting in a kiss that begins soft, with tentative bites and nips, until Josie plunges her tongue into Hope’s mouth and the tribrid has to bite back a moan. 

She sits up, and Josie falls easily into her lap, her arms around Hope’s neck as she kisses down Josie’s jawline, her hands moving from Josie’s hips up and under the little yellow top that she loved to wear. 

Her hands are warm, they always are. She runs hot because of her wolf and Josie sinks into the feeling as her fingers touch the underside of Josie’s bra, the siphon moaning in Hope’s ear as the she kisses down Josie’s neck, lingering on her pulse point. 

She bites Josie there, hard enough to leave a mark but not hard enough to break skin and the gasp that fills the air, coupled with the way Josie’s legs clench around Hope make Hope want to elicit that sound over and over and over again in a myriad of ways. 

Josie’s skirt is rucked up around her waist now, and Hope again captures Josie’s lips in searing kiss as her hands splash across the tops of Josie’s thighs, fingers teasing with the material of Josie’s panties. 

“Hope, please,” Josie breathes between kisses and Hope pauses, eyes flashing amber as she opens them to take in the girl before her. She is gorgeous, lingering on the edge of ecstasy and Hope is the cause of it. 

Maybe it is the mix of magic and the scent of vanilla and lavender but Hope wants to fall apart in Josie’s hands and by Josie’s hands over and over. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Hope states with a tone of reverence, a hand sneaking up to Josie’s cheek to run her thumb over the skin. 

“Kiss me again,” Josie smiles, and who is Hope to deny her that simple request? 

She kisses and kisses Josie, loses herself in soft lips and splays her hands across the soft skin of Josie’s thighs, likes how Josie’s hands tangle in her hair and how she keeps pulling Hope closer, impossibly closer. These kisses are different than the first ones, softer and more teasing, deeper and longer. 

She slides her hands higher, pushing the obstructing lace of Josie’s panties to the side, slides her mouth lower to leave kisses on the skin of Josie’s neck. 

She’s always wearing blouses these days, buttoned dangerously low, and Hope only needs to pop a single button until she has access to Josie’s breasts, drags her lips over their swell. 

Josie’s hands slip under Hope’s shirt, scratching over her back, as Hope pushes two fingers inside of her. 

Josie’s hips roll to meet Hope’s thrust. 

“Harder,” she demands, a breathless whisper as Hope sucks marks into the skin of her breasts. 

Hope’s pace becomes relentless and Josie clings to her, nails clawing into Hope’s back in a way that Hope knows will maybe leave a mark. 

She pushes her fingers in and out, savoring the scent of Josie all around her and overwhelming her senses and the moans that she is making in Hope’s ear. 

Hope kisses her again, swallowing Josie’s moans as she curls her fingers when she knows Josie is near the end, her moans turning breathless, holding her hip with her free hand as Josie shudders and breaks all over her. 

Hope pulls her fingers out, bringing them quickly to her mouth to clean them off as Josie watches her, mouth open, before kissing her once again, tasting herself on Hope’s lips. 

They kiss slower now, Josie’s movements languid in the afterglow and no one really should look that adorable after being so thoroughly fucked, but Josie pulls it off well. She gets to her feet a few moments later, pulling Hope with her by the hand. 

“Come on,” she demands, in a way that Hope knows means she has no choice but to follow her. 

“Where are we going, Josie?” 

Josie turns to look at Hope, really look at her. She’s bravado and confidence and it is a great look on her, if Hope is being honest. 

“Your room. Unless you’re going to tell me that this was a mistake?” 

“N-no,” Hope mutters, a smile breaking across her face as Josie walks on ahead of her, reaching a hand behind her to grab the tribrid. 

“Good.” 

  
  



	2. darkness desire desserts?

It should have ended that night. But it didn’t. Not even close. 

Most of her life has been spent trying to keep people out, keep Josie and Lizzie out, keep everyone at school out. Build a castle for herself, walls miles high and keep her heart safe. 

But Josie has somehow found a way to always be there. Her consistency is one of her best character traits. It does nothing for Hope’s lack of self-control. 

Especially when it comes to her newfound obsession with finding herself in dark corners with Josie either on her knees or her hand shoved down Josie’s pants. 

“Oh god,” Hope breathes, the granite cold on her thighs as she’s backed up and onto the counter in the kitchen. 

Josie had claimed that she had wanted a midnight snack, but Hope can see through the lies just as easily as she can see Josie’s nipples peeking through her tank top. 

Josie stands between her legs and they’re eye level, smiling at each other in the moonlight and Hope loves Josie like this. 

Her hair is down and around her shoulders with a lazy wave, Josie’s poor excuse for sleeping shorts are sinfully too short and Hope can’t wait to tear them off of her, and she seems lighter now, unburdened in ways they Hope has never seen before. 

Somehow, between the darkness and the loss and the monsters and the fighting, Josie found a strength no one expected, and now, she is brighter, more gorgeous than Hope has ever seen her. 

Josie kisses her and maybe she hadn’t been lying about the late-night snack because she tastes like chocolate and peppermint and Hope wants to sigh into the warmth that moves from her head to her toes, pooling in the pit of her stomach as Josie’s hands grip on her thighs. 

Her pants are discarded on the ground, and Josie’s hands slide over her body, taking Hope apart, pulls Hope closer and slots herself between her legs, and Hope thinks that they fit together seamlessly. 

Her hands are fast, frantic, everywhere at once and Hope feels like she’s burning in the best way possible. 

(Josie has always been fantastic with fire.)

She exhales, breathless, as Josie’s hands unbutton her top, and Josie sighs after opening the first button, shaking her head and muttering a spell that has the rest of them following the first, leaving Hope exposed to her gaze as the shirt pools around her elbows. 

Josie’s gaze darkens as her eyes move over Hope. “You should not wear a bra more often,” she mutters against Hope’s lips. 

“Maybe if you dragged me from my room to the kitchens in the middle of the night more often,” Hope teases. 

“I’ll do my best,” Josie says, kisses her and kisses her. 

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” Hope protests as Josie moves her attention to Hope’s breasts, tongue moving over her nipple with long, broad strokes. 

“You’re talking too much,” Josie counters. 

“You-,” Hope exhales, shuddering, as Josie’s tongue switches to fast circles, “don’t normally mind when I talk.”

“Fuck,” she curses, maybe a little louder than intended, as Josie tugs, ever so slightly, with her teeth. 

Josie chuckles, deep and low, her hand sliding upward to cover Hope’s mouth. “I don’t. But we’re in the kitchen.”

Hope opens her mouth to Josie’s touch, sucking on two of Josie’s fingers and this time, the siphon is the one who curses. 

Josie lifts her head, watching Hope silently as she takes Josie’s fingers in her mouth, eyes on Josie the entire time. 

“Is that quiet enough for you?” Hope asks, lips kissing Josie’s fingers.

Josie doesn’t answer, can’t answer, feels her voice fly from her throat as she feels a need for Hope starting low in her stomach and moving towards her heart, like the blood pumping in her veins. 

She has never been the possessive type. That has been all Lizzie. 

But Josie needs Hope, needs to be touching her skin, needs to be inside of her, needs to feel her fall to pieces against her like she needs oxygen.

(All fires needed oxygen, after all.) 

Josie needs Hope. 

Her hand drops from Hope’s mouth to between her legs, finding her open, soaked, wanting, and she needs and she wants, shifts slightly so that she can kiss Hope, warm and pliant underneath her touch. Hope’s magic flows into her, easily, like second nature, as she raises her hand to whisper a silencing charm, soundproofing the kitchen to the outside world. Hope hears her whisper again to lock the door behind them with a click. 

Hope’s legs wrap around Josie’s waist, locking her in. 

“Do that again,” she requests, and Josie pushes two fingers inside of her and moves her mouth to Hope’s neck, sucking marks into the skin and letting Hope’s magic flow into her. 

Hope wishes she could put into words what it feels like to be siphoned, to have Josie siphoning from her. It is like euphoria, losing a little of her magic, of her life force. It should scare her, but in Josie’s hands, she knows she is safe. 

Josie quickens her pace and Hope meets each thrust with one of her own, fucking herself on Josie’s fingers. Josie’s lips travel over her collarbone, and Hope leans back on on the granite counter. In the distance, she hears glass shatter, their combined magic flowing through the room. They’ll definitely have to fix the kitchen later. 

“You’re so gorgeous,” Josie mutters, taking in the sight before her, Hope on the counter, disheveled and half-naked, arching her hips to get closer to Josie, her head thrown back, her eyes darkened and heavy. 

Her chest is heaving and Josie slides her mouth lower, using her free hand to cup Hope’s breast and sucking an erect nipple into her mouth as she moves her fingers faster, and Hope is matching her movements as Josie curls her fingers. 

“Harder, Jo,” Hope asks, and the siphon grins as she continues to kiss along Hope’s chest, Hope’s hand tangled in her hair and nails scratching into her scalp in a delightful way. 

Josie adds a third finger and Hope moans loudly, her movements faster, less controlled, grinding on Josie’s hand as the siphon feels herself growing wetter and wetter at the sight. Her sleep shorts are no doubt soaked. 

Hope is close now, they both can feel it, can feel it in the air and sparking around them like lightning before it strikes. It’s palpable and electric and Hope can see stars whenever she opens her eyes. Stars and Josie. 

It’s all she can see. 

Hope captures Josie’s mouth in a kiss before moaning loudly as she comes, breathless and shaking in Josie’s arms. She rides the wave out, hips slowing down as Josie’s pace matches her movements. She shudders and breaks, and Josie kisses her and kisses her. 

“That was,” Hope breathes, forehead against Josie’s as her breathing returns to normal, slowly, “something. When you siphon from me, it feels so-” Hope falls silent, trying to put it into words she doesn’t have, and Josie tilts her chin up, kisses her, biting her bottom lip and tugging hard. 

“Yeah, it feels like that,” Hope agrees, licking her lip and eyeing Josie hungrily. 

“You’re scheming,” Josie smirks. 

“And you’re still wearing too many clothes,” Hope retorts, pulling Josie into her. 

Outside, the clouds shift, hiding the moon, but in here, Hope thinks, the room is filled with light. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we live for validation, so all comments are much appreciated


	3. wear you like a necklace

They save Lizzie from the rival coven intent on forcing the Merge six years too soon and Hope sees Josie’s eyes flash dark. It’s just a moment, a trick of the light, but no, she’s the only one who’s noticed in all of the chaos and the cacophony of sound. 

The drive back to the school is difficult. Josie is silent but Hope can feel her desire to lash out, break something, anything, anyone, like Hope can feel the blood pumping through her veins. 

Josie is fighting the dark magic, head held low as she sits next to an unconscious Lizzie, the blonde’s head in Josie’s lap, fingers running through her hair. 

A sleeping Lizzie is deposited in the twin’s shared room before Hope grabs Josie’s hand, pulling her to her own, slamming the door. 

And Josie is upon her. She’s harsh lines and edges, her kisses burning and biting in ways that have Hope melting into Josie’s touch, even as she recognizes the difference from just days ago. She can’t help but break a little at Josie’s every touch. She can almost taste siphon’s desire for control. It tastes like iron in her mouth, like adrenaline, like release. 

Hope flips Josie, the taller brunette’s back landing loudly on the door as she claims Josie’s wrists, tugging them high against the door. Hope pushes her chest into Josie, breathing deeply, sees the darkness lurking behind Josie’s eyes. The desire for control. 

She knows how to fight this.

“I’m going to tie you up,” Hope breathes into Josie’s mouth as she kisses her. 

“I’m going to tie you up and make you come so hard that whatever magic is left from that spell flows out of you, got it?” 

Josie’s eyes flash, black, and Hope can see the struggle within her. She waits, patiently, inches away from Josie’s lips, red and swollen, but she keeps a hold of Josie’s hands. 

Keeps control. 

The seconds pass, slow, tantalizing, and Josie’s tongue wets her own lips, and finally, finally, she shudders and exhales, and the word “okay” slips from her lips. 

“Good,” Hope says, and she closes the distance between them, kissing Josie, pushing her body against her until she has Josie enclosed between her and the frame of the door. 

Her kisses still feel harsh to Hope, the fire and the energy and the darkness inside of her aflame, but Hope’s hold on her is firm as she maneuvers them towards the bed. 

They stumble and fall, into each other, onto each other, and Hope succeeds in getting Josie on her back, their chests heaving. A wave of her hand and Josie’s clothes are gone and the siphon tilts her head to the side with a loud gasp. 

“Really, Hope?”

“Would you like me to go slower?” she asks, straddling Josie as the curtains of her dark hair fall onto Josie’s now-bare chest. 

Josie leans up to switch the dynamic, change positions, but Hope pushes her back down with both arms, hands scratching down Josie’s arms to her elbows, earning a laugh from the siphon as she kisses her roughly, biting her lip as she pulls away. 

Hope is enjoying this far more than she thought she would, feeling her panties grow wet as Josie squirms for the upper hand. Josie, all so powerful, under her like this, is intoxicating. 

A snap of her fingers and she is holding two pieces of black silk that elicit a low growl from Josie.

“You could use a charm,” Josie says, rather breathless, and Hope chuckles quietly, and shakes her head, her hair spilling over her shoulders, and bends down to tie the first knot. 

“And have you siphon it away with one touch? I promised to tie you up and make you come hard, Jo.” Her hands move over, fast, to tie the second knot. 

“I keep my promises.” The statement is punctuated by a kiss as Hope checks the knots, tucking some hair behind her ear. 

They’re strong, strong enough to hold Josie, and after all, this was more for the effect than actually keeping her immobilized. 

This was for Josie, she told herself, even as she felt her pulse quicken in anticipation. 

Hope pulls away from the kiss but remains close to Josie. The siphon tries to lean forward to catch Hope’s lips again but the scarves pull her back and she misses Hope’s lips by a breath. 

“Good.” 

Josie’s mind is darkness and rage, the black magic within her boling, and she wants and she wants and she needs, chaos replacing the control she normally grasps so tightly, and in the midst of this mess there is Hope, hovering above her, in her lap, her hand on Josie’s chest, above her heart, her eyes calm and silent. 

Watching. Observing. 

Grounding her. 

She is the eye of Josie’s hurricane. 

Her lips part, and she slides down slightly, pressing a kiss next to Josie’s collarbone. 

She keeps her gaze fixed on Josie, and never looks away. 

Not when she leaves kisses across her body and Josie bites down on her own lower lip. 

Not when she circles her tongue around the siphon’s nipple, not when she sucks it into her mouth and Josie’s eyes flash black. 

Not when she sucks marks into the soft skin of Josie’s thighs and Josie tugs on the restraints, arching up towards her. 

Josie’s breathing turns ragged and impatient, her moans louder and louder. Hope slows now, kisses on Josie’s thighs turning to bites that she draws out. One bite, close to her groin, elicits a sharp intake of breath. The moan that escapes Josie’s mouth is loud, far too loud. but somehow she can’t bring herself to care, not when Hope is crouched between her legs, her red hair a halo around her head in the lowlight and god, she was so beautiful.

Josie’s fingers tighten around the scarves now, gripping the material as she tries to move herself closer into Hope’s mouth. She could never be close enough to Hope. She wanted the tribrid to devour her. 

Another lick and Josie is squirming now, and Hope stops, pulling a hand that had been holding onto Josie’s hip to keep her still to run through her now thoroughly-tousled hair. 

Josie makes another noise, a plea or a prayer, Hope isn’t sure. But she watches the siphon’s chest rise and fall rapidly, waiting silently. 

“Relax, babe. I’m right here,” Hope breathes, trailing kisses from Josie’s calf to her kneecap as she runs her hands up and down Josie’s legs. “I’ve got you,” she promises. 

“I’ve got you,” she repeats, her hands still calmly moving over Josie’s legs, watching as Josie’s breathing slows down, slowly. 

It’s only when Josie’s breathing is almost even again that she presses a kiss to Josie’s hip bone before carefully moving lower, kissing Josie’s pubic bone before another breathy moan shakes her body. 

She leans in, licking in a long line up and down, and Josie arches closer towards her, another moan falling from her lips. Hope traces patterns with her tongue and traces her hands over Josie’s thigh, takes in the soft skin and the way Josie moves against her before she slips one, and after a moment, another two fingers inside of the siphon. 

Josie sinks onto her fingers, legs going up and over Hope’s shoulders to try to coax the tribrid deeper into her and Hope opens her mouth fully, tongue moving in concert with her fingers, in and out of Josie at a rapid pace. 

The noises falling from Josie’s lips coupled with the sound of Hope’s fingers in and out of the siphon has the tribrid wound up, the wetness dripping down her thighs as she licks Josie’s clit in small circles. Hope has half a mind to throw up a silencing charm around them, around the room, but she can’t bring herself to care. Wants and needs to hear Josie release and couldn’t give a shit if the rest of the school heard. 

“Oh god, oh my god,” Josie chants and Hope looks up, pausing in her movements. 

“You’re close,” she states, not a question. More of a sense of knowing Josie’s body, of knowing Josie. 

“Well, I was,” Josie breathes, eyes open to shake her head at Hope. They’re still darker than usual, hooded, with a dangerous shade of black glittering in them. She is barely keeping it together, barely holding off the darkness and she has the audacity to chide Hope for taking her time. 

“Demanding,” Hope remarks, a long lick to Josie’s center. She is done talking. Josie curses, and when Hope pushes inside of her again, she gasps out Hope’s name, close to a prayer. 

It’s intoxicating, Josie is intoxicating and having her here like this, spread out in front of her, has Hope feeling breathless. This time, her pace is relentless, coaxing Josie closer and closer. Josie is chanting her name, clenching around her fingers and fuck, she is gorgeous like this. 

Hope sucks on her clit, curving her fingers, and watches Josie shatter to pieces. Watches Josie go over the edge and feels the air around them spark. Feels whatever was hanging around them fly out of the room with the slam of Hope’s closet door. 

Josie comes apart and she pulls the scarves from their knots, hands flying to Hope’s head to grab at the tribrid’s face and pull her into a kiss that leaves Hope breathless, leaves the taste of Josie in both of their mouths. 

“Better?” Hope asks, hand caressing Josie’s cheek as the siphon’s eyes open. Hope’s eyes are dancing between Josie’s and a wave a of relief rushes through her as she sees the color of coffee, the color of mahogany, the right color staring back at her. 

Josie stays silent, dotting kisses along Hope’s cheek and her chin as she nods. 

“Better,” Josie replies with a long exhale. 

She glances up at Hope, meeting her eyes. 

“How did you -,” she begins, hands running down Hope’s arms.

Hope runs her hand through Josie’s hair, tucking a stray lock behind her ear. 

“I saw you, back there, before we got into the car. It was just a flash, just a second,” she adds, reaching over to cover them both with the blanket. 

“You saw that?” Josie mutters, astonishment obvious in her voice.

Hope presses a soft kiss to the crown of Josie’s head. “I always see you. I always will,” she promises. 

  
  



	4. in my worst lies, you saw the truth of me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> josie disappears to the gym to find some aspect of her life she can control after the merge she forced on lizzie, after hope traveled into her mind to bring her home. and again, hope tracks her down. 
> 
> or
> 
> the one with the blindfold

Darkness mists in front of her eyelids and Josie glances down, a knife in hand. She knows she’s breaking the rules - the gym is off-limits after dark, it is nearly two in the morning, but she decides that she doesn’t care. Her dad is the headmaster after all, and he lets a hell of a lot worse slide. 

She knows that after breaking the lock, she will take whatever punishment he will decide to dish out, consequences be damned. (That is, if he found out.) 

But would he actually punish her? Hope had said once that disobeying her dad wasn’t out of character for her, it was consistent. She’s just taking a page out of the tribrid’s book. She knows she’s pushing her luck, to be sure, but honestly couldn’t care less. Reckless, reckless, reckless. 

Her vision swirls in front of her as she grips the knife, left hand coming up to caress the serrated edge. 

She swallows, heart aching and lungs expanding as she gulps for air. Memories of the Merge she had forced on Lizzie. Cutting her palm and asking her sister to do the same. Guilt burns hot, like molten lava through her stomach and she wants to spit it out like a bad taste. She knows what the guilt would taste like. It would taste like ash. It would taste like an inferno. 

Her steps are slow and cautious as if she's intruding on a sanctuary. Hollow spaces between bones, ribcages filling up with the absence of space — she yearns for the safety and security that another soul could bring. And yet she seeks out dark places, devoid of sound, life, light. She savors her destruction, her downfall. A deep breath and the moment passes as the moonlight filters through the high windows.

Josie walks towards the balance beam, stowing the knife in the holder at her thigh. She would return it to its rightful place underneath her pillow, the security in the steel more comforting than her favorite composition. 

Dancing across the balance beam and onto the cushioned floor, she pauses, looking around and exhaling loudly before walking over to the mirror and barre. She pulls the knife and the holder from her waist, tossing it to the ground. She is left with only her black tank top and black pants. The only color she seems to care for these days. The leggings are tight enough to show off sleek legs. 

Breathe in.

Execute.

Hold, she tells herself, the ballet pose a favorite of Caroline’s when they were younger. She had never forgotten the correct movement, had always remembered how it would clear her mind to focus on her body. 

She feels her muscles pull and stretch, felt the opening of her rib cage from her slow, drawn-in breath. She holds the air in her lungs as her body bends just so, a juxtaposition of straight back and turned out leg, her chest pressing to her shirt so that the material stretches tight. The leg supporting her weight holds her strongly, the other lifted straight out behind her in an angle just beyond parallel to the ground. A practiced overextension, one that not everyone could perform while maintaining good form, but Josie had worked for years to be able to manage.

She keeps her hips in perfect formation, squared and stable, her arm extended out in front of herself, the other curved over the barre. It was her version of her favorite move— an arabesque.

And then she feels it. A tremor through her whole body. She whirls, the knife in her hand before she can even process another thought, as Hope materializes out of the darkness. 

“You weren’t in bed, Jo,” Hope observes, her hair down and cascading in auburn curls around her shoulders. 

Josie knew it would smell like vanilla and lavender. It always did. 

“I couldn’t sleep,” Josie admits, chest heaving as she drops the knife on the floor. Hope bends to pick it up, thumb moving over the blade in the same way that Josie had touched it minutes before. 

Hope touches the steel like it's holy, with reverence, like it's a part of her and not an implement. An extension of her arm. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” the tribrid asks, eyes moving from the blade back up to Josie’s face, half-shaded in the wan light. She's still so damn beautiful, Josie thinks. Even when she isn’t trying. 

“No,” Josie replies and Hope can hear her heartbeat. It’s slow, but the pace is building and Josie seems scared, guarded, closed off. 

“Do you want me to leave?” Hope asks, taking a step closer to Josie. 

Josie shakes her head, holding out her hand. 

“You can stay if you want to. I just — I needed something I could control.”

For a moment, neither of them move, and the silence lingers, Josie still waiting, the knife still in Hope’s hand. She wonders for a moment if Hope will say something, or point out that it’s reckless or dangerous for someone as volatile as Josie to be walking around with a weapon. 

She might be a girl without powers, for now, but the students still shiver in fear when they see her passing in the hallway. 

But instead, Hope’s smiles gently and places the blade in Josie’s hand, stepping a couple of steps back until she is seated on a bench against the wall behind them. 

Josie slides the knife back into the holster and returns to the barre and she dances, dances the guilt and the pain and the shame, almost, almost away. 

She keeps the lines of her body taut as she moves through the positions, from a fondu into a Chaîné, inhales deeply and deeply and for just a second, the barre in her hand, she feels something akin to control. 

It’s not enough, it’s never enough. 

Her thin hold on it feels like it’s slipping as she finishes off with a pirouette, takes a few steps away from the wall. 

“That was wonderful,” Hope says, into the silence, getting up from the bench. 

Josie shrugs. “I just. — I needed something I could control,” she repeats. 

Hope’s expression softens, her eyes moving slowly up Josie’s legs, past her chest, and resting on her face. She grabs Josie’s outstretched hand, pulling the siphon towards her with an urgency she didn’t know she had. 

They stare at each other for a long moment and Hope can feel Josie tremble in her arms, the control that she is barely exerting to keep herself together as her brain tore itself in two and her darkness was defeated by her light, still raging behind her brown eyes. 

They’re breathing the same air and somehow it’s not enough and Hope’s lungs cry out for her to take a deeper breath, but she knows Josie, knows she needs to recognize that Hope is here for her. 

Knows just how badly Josie needs the control she has been clinging to so tightly. 

“Control me,” Hope breathes in the space between their bodies, breaking the silence, looking up at Josie with dark eyes. 

“I’m powerless right now, Hope,” Josie responds, but her eyes betray her and Hope catches them darting up and down from her lips. 

“You don’t need magic to control me, Jo,” Hope replies, with a smirk, a derisive chuckle leaving her mouth and her voice is raw with anticipation, with want. 

“You’re more powerful than you think you are.” The knife is instantly in Hope’s hands as she hands it to Josie, hilt first. 

The siphon takes it, eyes on the blade before she presses it against Hope’s throat. The metal is cold and the edge is sharp, but the speed with which Josie wields it makes Hope gasp, heating flooding to her core. 

“Is this what you meant?” Josie teases, tongue licking her teeth as she stares at Hope, eyes darting between her lips and her piercing blue eyes. 

Hope exhales and the knife digs in a bit deeper, piercing her skin as a line of blood drips down her neck as she breathes the word “yes,” eyes on Josie and Josie alone. 

Josie replaces the blade with her lips, tossing it behind her, done with the game for now, as she kisses Hope’s neck, pulling Hope into her to soothe the skin that was no doubt already healing. 

Her lips travel upwards, over Hope’s jaw and cheek as Hope tilts her neck back slightly and Josie nudges her against the wall, and finally, finally, Josie’s lips meet hers. 

Josie kisses her and it's like electricity striking them down, a flame ignited, lightning in a bottle and Hope feels weightless because even a Josie without any power is more than enough to make her weak in the knees with the simplest brush of her lips. 

They breathe into each other and Hope can taste the desire, can feel it in the way Josie’s hands cup her face, pulling her closer.

When they break apart, Hope stays pliant in Josie’s hold, waits and waits, as Josie’s gaze drifts over her, taking her in. 

Josie’s pupils are dilated, visible even in the dim light of the gym, and the flush on her cheeks is a stark contrast to her hair, still tightly pulled up. She inhales sharply before she comes to a decision, intertwining her right hand with Hope’s, bending down to pick up the knife with her other one. 

She slings the holster around her waist before tugging at Hope’s hand. “Come with me.” It’s not quite a demand, but definitely not just a request, and Hope lets Josie lead her through the empty hallways of the school. 

Josie leads her to her own room, pushing the door Hope had left unlocked open. 

As soon as the door is pushed closed behind them, Josie spins Hope around, pressing her up against the door. She takes her time, tucks a stray auburn curl behind Hope’s ear, trails careful fingers down Hope’s neck, then over the line of her jaw. 

She’s spent years denying herself this, denying to herself, and everyone else, just how much she wants Hope Mikaelson. 

And how much she wants her like this, soft and supplicant under Josie’s touch. 

She keeps her touches light, watches the way Hope shudders under them, the way her lips part, before she finally, finally bends down to kiss her again. She’s a little more urgent now, biting at Hope’s lower lip, sucking it into her mouth. 

Hope falls back against the wood, clinging to Josie, pulling her closer, and Josie presses closer and closer, no distance left between them. 

By the time Josie pulls away, Hope’s lips are bruised and her eyes are heavy-lidded, and Josie feels heat curl inside of her stomach at the view before her. 

“Get on the bed,” she whispers, her breath ghosting over Hope’s lips. 

Hope obeys her, easily, and Josie watches her from the door as she falls back against the pillow, and it might be the most intoxicating thing she has ever witnessed, Hope stretched out on her bed, looking at her with a heavy gaze, her chest rising and falling with each breath she takes as she leans on her elbows as if to say _come here_. 

Josie stalks through the room like a predator chasing her prey, but Hope is more than willing to be ruined, her legs falling open, almost of their own accord, to make space for Josie when she climbs onto the bed. She drags her fingers over the exposed skin where Hope’s shirt has ridden up, pushing it further up, inch by inch. 

She pulls it over Hope’s head and settles between her legs, her hands on either side of Hope’s hips as she kisses her. Hope feels sparks on her lips as Josie overwhelms her senses. 

She's everywhere, hands on her hips, moving up her stomach and grabbing at her face to pull her more fully into her. Hope grabs her, but Josie pushes her down onto the bed, shedding her shirt and wiggling out of her pants and undies as she slides off the bed to pull Hope to the edge. 

Hope catches a glimpse of black lace that she would love to have torn off of Josie with her teeth, but this isn’t about her. This is about Josie. 

“These need to go,” Josie breathes, her voice rough and low and Hope feels the words in her core as her pants are tossed somewhere to the corner of her room. Josie settles in her lap, slinging her arms around Hope’s neck and they are finally skin to skin and Hope can feel the heat between them, but it isn’t enough. 

Her hands settle on Josie’s hips as they fall more fully into each other and on the bed. 

Josie grabs Hope’s hands and holds them up and above her head, kissing down Hope’s neck with a roughness, a determination, with sharper teeth and nips than Hope is used to from her, and fuck, it’s absolutely intoxicating, Josie holding her down firmly, her mouth wreaking havoc on Hope’s neck. 

Hope feels silk against her hands and gasps, looking to where Josie is holding her down. 

“Can I — ?” Josie asks quietly, sitting up in Hope’s lap, her shyness betraying the scorching kisses from moments before and Hope’s heart swells with sheer adoration for Josie. 

Josie, whose strong and soft, sexy and innocent, courageous and so so beautiful. Hope nods, grinding her hips up and more fully into Josie to emphasize her point because this was certainly something new. 

“I trust you,” she reminds Josie, softly.

Carefully, so so carefully, Josie places the black silk over Hope’s eyes and knots it in place. “Can you still see?” she questions. There is a definite hitch in Hope’s breath as the “no” slips from her lips. 

“Are you lying?” A smirk dances upon Josie’s lips as she ducks her head to Hope’s ear, breathing in as she licks the lobe, whispering lightly, “I’ll know if you’re lying.” 

Hope feels the words as they reverberate through her body, settling between her legs as she moans loudly. Josie’s fingertips creep up her hip and dance across her ribs, circling lazily around her breasts and her nipples. 

Josie kisses down her neck and across her jawline and then hovers for a few moments, her mouth somewhere above Hope’s, her breath tickling Hope’s face and warm on her lips and Hope leans forward, hands now free to grip at Josie’s hips, fingernails leaving scratch marks up her thighs. Their lips don’t meet and Hope nearly growls with a wry smile. 

“You’re a tease, Josie Saltzman,” Hope says, an eyebrow arched underneath the blindfold that has Josie laughing, her fingers still moving along Hope’s skin, circling and circling around her nipples as she rolls them between her fingers. 

“You wanted me to control you, Hope Mikaelson,” Josie breathes, her voice low as she ducks her head to take Hope’s breast into her mouth, sucking and biting and licking. 

“Worst idea I’ve ever had,” Hope exhales, breaths coming in sharp pants as Josie bites at her. She digs half-moon crescents into Josie’s thighs and scratches down Josie’s back, leaving trails of her nails on Josie’s porcelain skin. 

“Now I know you’re lying,” Josie mutters, sucking Hope’s nipple into her mouth. 

“Maybe,” Hope sighs, her back arching off the bed as Josie kisses down her sternum, massaging Hope’s breasts in her hands. 

Josie’s hand dips between her legs, lightning-fast, and is gone a moment later, and Hope can almost imagine Josie’s fingers on her lips, tasting her, a visual she definitely regrets missing out on. 

Josie kisses her, finally, finally, whispers “feels like you’re lying, babe,” against her lips. “Told you I’d know,” she adds, punctuating her statement with her mouth on the lobe of Hope’s ear again, nibbling. 

Hope wants to ask if Josie’s enjoying this, but the words are stolen from her mouth as one of Josie’s hands moves between her legs again, a single finger sliding up and down through her folds, before circling over her clit. Hope sighs at the feeling, opening her legs wider to pull Josie more fully into her. 

With the blindfold, Hope’s other senses are heightened and she can feel Josie everywhere, can smell herself and Josie, can hear every uptick of Josie’s heartbeat and it only serves to drive Hope crazier, her need for the siphon the only coherent thought on her mind. 

Josie kisses her and kisses her as Hope grinds into her hand, moaning into Josie’s mouth before Josie moves down Hope’s chest again, dotting kisses along her stomach. Josie's enjoying this far too much, can feel herself growing wetter as Hope gets more and more worked up, her legs spread wide and her chest rising and falling. 

Josie dips her head to lick along Hope’s center and Hope grabs Josie’s head with her hands to keep her there, a shuddering moan escaping her body. 

“God, you feel so good,” Hope breathes and her voice is hoarse as Josie pulls Hope’s hips closer to her. She replaces her finger with her tongue, licking and sucking on Hope’s clit before she slips one finger, and then another inside of Hope, who sinks into the feeling of Josie inside of her. 

Hope's breathless, her head thrown, back, one hand in Josie’s hair and the other tangled in the sheets by the time Josie pulls her fingers out, and Hope curses as Josie’s tongue pushes inside of her. 

Holding Hope’s hip with one hand, her anchor, Josie’s other hand snakes up Hope’s chest, palming at her breast as her pace accelerates. Senses overwhelmed and her heart beating in overdrive, Hope’s mind is blank, a mantra of Josie, Josie, Josie coursing through her mind with each thrust, each lick. Josie’s grip on her hip is hard, her fingernails digging into Hope’s skin but she loves it, loves the raw pleasure as she feels Josie eat her out so spectacularly. 

She whines when Josie halts, rather suddenly, pressing a kiss to her thigh before biting down gently. Josie slides up her body and Hope whimpers at the loss of contact, arching her hips up for more friction, _any_ friction. Josie’s mouth lingers on her breasts, sucking, licking, biting on her nipples and god, that feels amazing, but she needs more. 

“Jo,” she gasps out, and she can hear and feel Josie move, even if she can’t see her. Hope raises her hand to Josie's face, her head, to guide her back down and finish the job because she was _so damn close_. 

“I’m right here,” Josie whispers against her lips, cupping her cheek before kissing her, so slowly, so languidly, as if they had all the time in the world, as if Hope wasn’t hovering on the edge. 

When she’s dizzy from the kiss, her senses filled with nothing but Josie’s hands on her, Josie’s lips all over her, Josie moves again, pulling Hope with her towards the end of the mattress. She can hear Josie kneeling down on the floor, her hands wrapped around Hope’s thighs before Josie’s mouth is on her again, two fingers sliding inside of her. 

She throws her head back, her fingers clenching in the sheets, as Josie sets a fast, relentless pace that has Hope’s body arching closer and closer towards her. She’s pretty sure that the room is filled with her voice, gasping out Josie’s name, over and over again, as Josie fucks her, curling her fingers inside of her and sucking on her clit. Hope clenches around Josie’s fingers, grinding down on them. 

Her orgasm hits her like a bolt of lightning, blinding lights and the force of a thousand bombs as Hope falls to pieces around Josie. She comes loudly, crying out, as the windowpanes in her room shatter around them. 

Hope falls flat on the bed, pulling off the blindfold with a laugh as her breath returns to her body, eyes on the ceiling. She can feel and hear Josie laughing as her lips travel up her thighs, the kisses soft, the touches slow and adoring. 

Sitting up, she pulls the siphon on top of her, arms wrapped around Josie’s back as she sighs into her chest, nose tickling the space at the base of Josie’s throat. 

“Well that’s never happened before,” Hope laughs, licking a line up Josie’s neck and under her jaw. Josie mutters a spell against her lips to fix the panes of glass and Hope can taste herself on them as she flips Josie over, intent on testing the limits of the school’s structural integrity a few more times before sunrise. 

* * *

They’re in the backseat of Alaric’s Jeep a week later (it had been Hope’s idea because they really were just having sex _all_ over the school grounds and were bound to get caught sooner or later) and Hope has two fingers inside of Josie, kissing her pulse point when the siphon grabs Hope’s face with her hands, pulling her lips towards her with a kiss that burns, that lights Hope’s skin aflame, and whispers ‘I love you.’ 

Josie registers shock on Hope’s face, just for a moment, before she leans in for a kiss that screams the words she wants to say, has wanted to say for weeks now. 

“Now?” Hope asks suddenly, pulling back from the kiss her pupils blown. “You thought now would be a good time to tell me?!” She punctuates her question with a thrust, curling her fingers and Josie gasps, scratching down Hope’s back. 

“I—uh—yes,” Josie breathes, her voice high and cracking because god, Hope felt so good but she also _needed_ to tell Hope how she felt, needed her to know that every time they touched, her body screamed her love for Hope and it had taken a while for her heart to be strong enough to put it into words. 

“You love me?” Hope asks, shyly, because of course, those words would give her pause, even if she was deep inside of Josie, the windows fogged up around them and their clothes in a heap on the floor. 

“Don’t think that the revelation gives you a right to stop,” Josie retorts, head resting against Hope’s as she grinds down on her fingers. Josie’s chest is heaving. From Hope. From saying the words on the tip of her tongue ever since Hope traveled to the edges of her mind to save her. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Hope states simply, kissing away the smirk on Josie’s face as she continues moving her fingers in and out of the siphon, her thumb moving in circles over Josie’s clit, and as Josie falls apart in her hands and overwhelming her senses, she kisses her slowly. 

“I love you too,” Hope says later when they’re sneaking back up the school, spinning Josie around to kiss her up against the nearest door and fixing the collar on Josie’s jacket and the smudged lipgloss on her lower lip. “In case there was any doubt,” she adds, eyes dancing across Josie’s brown eyes, flecked with shades of amber she would never grow tired of looking into. 

“You said a lot with your hands earlier, Mikaelson,” Josie says, lacing her fingers with Hope to bring their clasped hands up to her lips for a kiss. 

“I could maybe add some more to that, Saltzman,” Hope mutters, smirking at her. 

“You’re insufferable,” Josie sighs with a roll of her eyes. 

“And yet, you still love me,” Hope replies, reaching out to tap Josie on the nose. Josie swats Hope’s hand always, her laughter bouncing off the walls of the school as they walk back to Hope’s room. 


	5. i'll do anything you say (if you say it with your hands)

Hope Mikaelson is not a jealous person. 

Oh, who is she kidding? That’s a total lie, she’s _absolutely_ a jealous person. 

She just doesn’t want to be. 

For one thing. there’s a certain possessive element to the idea of jealousy, and Josie is her own person, which Hope loves about her, and just the fact that Josie said she loved her, _in her lap, head thrown back, Hope’s fingers inside of her,_ doesn’t really mean that she’s not free to flirt with the newest student at the school, some wolf Hope couldn’t care less about. Jack? Jake? James?

And besides, there’s something so very wolf-y about this jealousy, and it’s not something Hope likes to think about. Being a wolf, for her, means racing through the woods every few days, the world around her gone. 

She doesn’t want it to mean pack, or family, or all of the things she lost. 

She doesn’t — well, she might have a pack. But she has no idea if the Crescent wolves would welcome her back with open arms, just because she is their alpha by birthright, or if they blame her for her mother’s death. (They’d be right to, she knows.)

But here, she definitely doesn’t have a pack, and Josie definitely isn’t _hers_ , and she needs to calm down before she goes over there and claims — her fingers clench around the beer bottle and she drinks in fast gulps. 

She stares into the fire, counts to ten, before she looks up again, sees Josie on the other side of the clearing. Her hand is on James’ — Hope thinks it’s James —arm and her head is thrown back and she’s laughing at something the stupid idiot said, and it’s none of Hope’s fucking business. 

Except, Josie tilts her head a little as James starts into some story or the other, and meets Hope’s eyes, smirks at her. 

_What are you going to do about this, then?_ Josie’s eyes ask her, glittering, gorgeous, filled with confidence, and this has suddenly become a whole different story. 

Her bottle drops to the floor as she gets up, stalking across the clearing. Hope clenches her hands into her palms, the nails no doubt leaving crescents in her skin as she walks over to Josie. 

(She stomps, actually _stomps_ over to Josie in a way that has the siphon staring at her approach.) 

James looks away from Josie when she’s reached them. “Leave,” Hope orders simply, raising up to her full height to eye the boy. 

“I’d really rather continue talking to this lovely lady,” he says, in what she can only assume he thinks is a smooth way. _God_ , she was going to tear him limb from limb if he kept talking. 

She really doesn’t give a fuck. Her eyes flash golden, and she lets the alpha take over, and James is apparently not quite as dumb as he looks, because he lowers his head and disappears into the crowd a second later. 

Josie’s still smiling at her, feigned innocence and all. “Hi babe,” she says, and Hope’s having none of this. 

“You did that on purpose,” she says, and pulls Josie into a kiss, bruising and raw, the siphon’s hands tangling in her hair as Hope grips her waist, holding her close. 

“Did what? Have a conversation with a new student to make him feel welcome here?” Josie asks as she pulls away, eyelashes fluttering as she looks down at Hope. Her nails scratch on the back of Hope’s neck to soothe the tribrid. 

“You know exactly what you were doing.” Hope nearly growls. 

“In my defense,” Josie says, and she’s definitely delighted at how this turned out, “I didn’t expect it to go quite this well.”

Hope pulls Josie closer, diminishing the remaining distance between them. She’s well aware of the students all around them. “Let’s get out of here.”

“What if I want to dance?” Josie asks her, biting her lip in a way that makes Hope weak in the knees. “Should I ask Josh?”

Josh. That’s the dumbass’s name Hope forgot. She clearly remembers, though, his hands on Josie’s arm, and her vision flickers golden. Josie might be trying to get a rise out of her, but that doesn’t mean it’s not working. 

Her hands slide over Josie’s thighs, over her ass, lifting her up. Supernatural strength should be good for something. Josie’s legs wrap around Hope’s waist, pulling her closer, her arms encircling her neck as Hope spins them. She remembers that they’re still in the woods, in the middle of a party, but can't bring herself to care. 

“Stop it,” she whispers against Josie’s lips, punctuating each word with a kiss. 

“But I like where this is going,” Josie says, and Hope remembers, very acutely, that this is the girl who lit up Hope’s room, and the school, and that Josie has never shied away from playing with fire. 

“You’re baiting me,” Hope replies, kissing Josie and biting her lower lip as she pulls away, canines retracting slightly because she _aches_ for Josie and the wolf within her is screaming for her to mark her territory, right here and right now. 

“And you’re taking the bait,” Josie smirks, tongue peeking out from her gorgeous pink lips to lick them, soothing the bites that Hope had given her. 

“I’m trying not to,” Hope mutters, attempting to keep her breathing even, to keep her wolf under control. Her gaze is flickering golden and she wants to take, claim.

“I want you to,” Josie says, her voice low and throaty and a little raw, and god, Hope is so gone for her. “So how many other people are you going to make me flirt with?”

Something between the calm of Josie’s permissive gaze and the mention of her flirting with other people pushes Hope over the edge, and her hands wrap tighter around Josie’s thighs and her vision turns firmly gold, reduced to Josie, Josie, Josie.

“You’re mine,” Hope replies, as if that settles the question, “mine,” she mutters against Josie’s lips before she is spiriting them through the woods, lightning-fast, far enough away that the sounds of the party are barely audible in the distance anymore. 

She brings them to a clearing that Josie has never seen before. It’s deep in the woods and all Josie can see is a gazebo with a bed and candles lit, placed all around, bathing the area in a dull glow. Josie takes a step out of Hope’s arms, towards the bed, before the tribrid spins her back around, hands at her hips and palming her ass. 

“You have no idea how badly I want to be inside of you right now,” Hope breathes, her lips ghosting over Josie’s who reacts with a shudder of pleasure. 

“Do you desire me, Hope Mikaelson?” Josie throws her arms around Hope’s neck, running her hands through her hair. 

“You know I do,” Hope replies softly, drawing herself up to her full height and getting lost in Josie’s eyes. If she was being honest, it was Josie’s eyes that drew her to the siphon when they were younger. Hope could see galaxies in them — stars and supernovas and flashes of light in the browns and golds and greens. 

“Show me,” Josie whispers against her lips, drawing Hope out of her reverie. “Prove it,” she challenges, and fuck, yes, Hope can do that. 

Hope kisses her, her lips moving slowly over Josie’s, languidly even, breathing in Josie’s sighs as she again wraps her hands around Josie’s thighs to pick her up. 

“I did all of this for you, before the party,” she tells Josie, punctuating each word with a kiss. The sounds from the party are barely audible and all Hope can hear is the best of Josie’s heart, the tempo picking up as she deposits Josie on the edge of the bed, kneeling before her.

“And then you were flirting with John—”

“Josh, babe,” Josie interjects quickly, leaning back on her elbows as she watches Hope in front of her. 

Hope stands, pulling her shirt over her head with her jeans following after, leaving her in a matching red lace bra and underwear as she leans over Josie. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Josie whispers, the pale moonlight accentuating Hope’s freckled skin as she pulls Hope towards her for a kiss. 

Hope hovers over her, hands scraping up Josie’s thighs as she reaches toward the siphon’s skirt, unzipping it at her hip and pulling down the fabric hungrily. 

It pools at Josie’s feet as Hope sits in her lap, tracing her hands over Josie’s body, slowly popping open the buttons of her blouse, revealing the black lace hidden underneath. Hope bends down to leave kisses on the exposed skin, sucks on it to leave marks, the wolf in her exhilarated at the idea of her marks on Josie. 

Josie shudders under her touch and moans in this breathless, gasping way that Hope will absolutely never, ever get enough of. The blouse drops to Josie’s elbows and Hope reaches around to her back, unclasping her bra, tossing it towards the edge of the bed, the blouse following after it seconds later. 

She takes in the sight in front of her, Josie, dressed only in a scrap of lace, otherwise naked, in front of her. “You’re so gorgeous,” she whispers, her hands moving up Josie’s sides and over her breasts. Her eyes glimmer golden, her vision flickering, as she moves her mouth over Josie’s skin, nipping and biting and leaving marks on every inch that is exposed, her wolf screaming, mine, mine, mine. 

Josie’s hands tangle in the sheets when Hope kisses down her collarbone, scratch down her back when Hope sucks on her nipples, and she curses when Hope moves down, past her hip bones, tugging on the black lace of her panties as she kneels in front of Josie, pulling them off. 

“Get on your hands and knees,” she says simply, watching Josie for any hesitation, any questioning in her look. She sees and hears Josie’s heart rate accelerate, can smell her arousal and wants to drown in the scent. 

Josie swallows before she does as she’s told, moving to the center of the bed with her back to Hope, who takes a moment to stare at Josie, so, so pretty like this, the lines of her neck, of her back, the curve of her ass illuminated by the moonlight.

“Hope,” Josie pleads, and Hope sheds her underwear, moving closer, trailing her hands over the soft skin of Josie’s thighs. 

“I’ve always wanted to see you like this,” Hope whispers, her voice reverent even as the wolf inside of her is demanding her to take and claim, but she pauses, fighting against her nature to admire her girlfriend. She runs her fingers up and down Josie’s legs and across the small of her back. 

Josie can see Hope over her shoulder, her pulse loud in her ears and nerves tingling from her head to toe. 

“If you don’t touch me in the next five seconds, I’ll do it myself,” Josie threatens. “Or get Josh to do it,” and Hope can hear the smirk in the siphoner’s voice and god, she knows that Josie is just provoking her, but it’s certainly working, and she moves with lightning speed, getting on the bed behind Josie, gripping her thighs harder to pull her close. 

“Mine,” she whispers against Josie’s skin before sliding two fingers inside of her, finding her absolutely soaked. Josie drops to her elbows, head on the mattress with her palms flat on the bed, grasping at the sheets at Hope’s movements, her fingers filling her up so spectacularly. Hope pushes her fingers in and out, gripping Josie’s hip with her free hand to pull her more fully into her. 

“Oh god,” Josie breathes. 

“I prefer Hope, if I’m being honest,” the tribrid replies, leaning over Josie to kiss between her shoulder blades, trailing fingers down Josie’s back as she continues to push deeper inside of her. 

“Noted,” Josie moans, pushing her hips backward to sink more fully onto Hope’s fingers. “Tell me why we went to the party in the first place if this was what you wanted to do?” 

“Because,” Hope whispers, reaching around Josie to palm one of her breasts, her own against Josie’s back and Josie straightens up, her body flushed with Hope to grab the tribrid behind the neck. 

She kisses the side of Hope’s face, nipping and biting and Hope nearly loses herself, nearly shoves Josie back onto the bed to drive a third finger into her, but she savors Josie’s touch. Savors the way their bodies fit into each other, the way her chest is rising and falling at the same tempo as Josie’s, how they’re both slick with sweat despite the warm summer night. 

“Harder,” Josie shudders out and Hope does push her back to the bed this time, plunging another finger inside of Josie. 

Josie clenches around her, cursing, and it’s never very often that the brunette Saltzman curses but Hope can’t help but smile at the sound. She fucks her harder, one hand on her hip to pull the other witch closer towards her, covering Josie’s body with her own, pressing heated kisses to her neck and whispering “mine” against her skin. 

At the words, Josie tightens around her, rising up again and turning her head to kiss Hope, “yours,” she promises, against Hope’s lips. Hope slides her free hand down to Josie’s clit, keeps fucking her with urgent movements and feels breathless at the feeling of Josie next to her, strong and soft, taut and gentle, and so incredibly beautiful. 

Josie comes with a cry and it’s like music to Hope’s ears, the moan breaking through the night and Hope wishes she had thought to throw up a silencing spell but she can’t find it in herself to care. She kisses Josie deeply, wrapping an arm around her chest before peppering kisses down her jawline. 

Josie drops to the bed, rolling onto her back and Hope joins her, a hand slung across Josie’s stomach and a kiss to Josie’s shoulder. 

“That was—” Josie starts to say but Hope cuts her off with a kiss. The wolf in her has quieted some, but she still craves Josie on a visceral level, needs her close. Needs her to know much her presence soothes her mind, how much her touch drives her crazy. 

“I know,” Hope answers, clearly pleased with herself if the grin is anything to go by. 

“Kiss me again,” Josie demands, slinging a leg over Hope as she hovers over the tribrid. Curtains of dark hair fall all around them and Hope reaches up to pull Josie’s face to hers. Hope kisses like she fights, with a passion and the hunger of a wolf. She takes control and Josie wants to drink Hope in and capture this feeling. 

Her tongue slips into Josie’s mouth and they share one breath, breaking only to breathe before their heavy-lidded eyes make contact again. 

“My turn,” Josie smirks, grabbing Hope’s hands to pull her arms above her head. Hope’s body arches towards her, her legs wrapping around Josie’s waist, holding her close. 

“I said,” Josie begins, grinding into Hope as she’s held close in the tribrid’s thighs, “my turn.” Hope loosens her grip around Josie’s waist, if only just, while Josie seems content to wait, her jaw set. 

“You really don’t like giving up control,” she observes, eyes dancing across Hope’s face, taking in the swirls of gold and green in the blue. 

“I cede it all to you,” Hope whispers, even as her eyes flash golden. 

“I think you’re lying.” Josie replies scratching her nails down Hope’s arms as she cups Hope’s jaw, tilting her head to whisper in her ear — “Say that again. Tell me that I have all of the control.” 

Hope closes her eyes slowly, her mouth dry and her heart rate increasing despite herself, her core aching with need.

“You have all of the control, Josie. All of my armor, every wall I built, you’ve stripped them all away from me,” Hope answers, her chest rising and falling slowly as she peers at Josie. 

“Is that a bad thing?” Josie asks seriously, her lips ghosting over Hope’s neck and down her pulse point. 

“No, I trust you,” Hope replies, her hips canting upward for some friction, any friction that can make the ache in her bones go away because she's so gone for Josie, always has been, and needs her like she needs oxygen. 

“Good,” is Josie’s response, before she lifts her head up to meet Hope’s eyes. “Because I am going to make you come so hard,” she punctuates her point with a kiss against Hope’s pulse point, before looking up to meet her eyes again, “that the only thing you’ll remember is that I might be yours, but you’re mine, too.”

“So do it then,” Hope breathes, “I’m all yours”, and that spurs Jose into action. 

Hope's hips cant against hers and they’re both so wet, the heady scent of arousal mixed with sweat and Hope’s perfume. It’s too much and not enough and Josie wants and she wants and she wants.

The siphon kisses Hope’s neck one final time, crawling down her body as the tribrid shudders underneath her, lips tracing lines from shoulder, to the hollow of her throat, to her breasts. She takes one of Hope’s nipples between her lips, pulls with her teeth, and Hope curses her name before she peppers kisses across her chest and continues the same treatment on her other nipple, sucking and biting and feeling Hope arch her back underneath her.

Josie dots kisses along Hope’s sternum, pausing at Hope’s hip and biting the bone, running her nails up and down Hope’s rib cage that has her moaning and writhing, goosebumps rising to follow Josie’s fingers. 

Her hands winds in Josie’s hair and Jose feels nails dig into her scalp, hard enough to make her moan against Hope’s stomach. Hope's hips haven't stopped moving, restless beneath Josie as she lifts up her right hand, licking two fingers, even though she really, _really_ doesn’t need to (in Hope’s opinion) and plunging them into Hope.

Hope moans as she feels herself filled, sinking into the mattress. Josie wants to leave a lingering mark somewhere, anywhere, if only to serve as a reminder of this night, so she moves lower, biting at the skin near Hope’s center that has her gasping and arching into Josie with even more force, matching each thrust of Josie’s fingers with a thrust of her hips. 

Hope would never so freely give up control like this to anyone but Josie, but with her, it’s exhilarating, and Josie can feel Hope close to the edge, so she licks a long line through wet folds and Hope grinds against her harder, opening her legs wide and sliding a leg over Josie’s back, pulling her in closer. 

She curses when Josie’s mouth is suddenly on her clit, throwing her head back and screaming out Josie’s name, praying that they’re far enough away from the party. She has one hand in Josie’s hair, pulling her closer, Josie’s name the only thing on her lips as the siphoner curls her fingers, moving her mouth against Hope. 

She’s definitely way too loud, but she can’t bring herself to care as her world explodes into stars and she falls to pieces under Josie’s touch, her head falling back into the pillows. 

Josie crawls the length of Hope’s body, leaving kisses in her wake and curls up against her as Hope pulls her in close. Josie kisses her, slow, mutters, “can we stay here forever? No more monsters.”

Hope lifts her hand lazily, _“invisique,_ ” she whispers. “We can have tonight,” she offers, “no one will find us here, now.”

Her wolf feels oddly at peace with Josie here, hers, pressed against her, reaching out to pull one of the blankets over them as they fall asleep under the stars, the echoes of the party just background noise. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we live for validation, so all comments are much appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> we'd love to hear your thoughts, so come say hi @saltziepark or @liz_mikaelson or let us know if you liked this in the comments


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